Sal Romano #43

Salvatore J. Romano...selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the 23rd round of the 2011 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of Southington High School (CT)...was named the Connecticut Gatorade State Player of the Year during his senior year in 2011.

2021

Made 44 total appearances across three organizations (CIN, NYY, MIL)...began the season with Cincinnati, appearing in 14 games before being designated for assignment on May 14...signed by the Yankees on May 19...designated for assignment on July 31...claimed off waivers by Milwaukee on Aug. 3...designated for assignment on Aug. 10...signed by the Yankees on Aug. 14 and selected on Sept. 9...designated for assignment on Sept. 10 and signed again on Sept. 14, his third stint with the Yankees in 2021.

2020

Spent most of the season at the alternate training site as part of the Reds' 60-player pool... In his two apps for the Reds, on 9/14 vs Pit and 9/18 vs WSox, retired all 4 batters... Was promoted just prior to the game on 9/13 at StL, when RHP Sonny Gray went on the 10-day injured list with a mid-back strain...already was with the club in St. Louis as part of the Taxi Squad... Made his season debut the next night, in the fifth inning of the 9/14 doubleheader nightcap vs Pit...entered with the bases loaded and two outs and induced Gregory Polanco to pop out, keeping the deficit at 4-3... became the pitcher of record when Mike Moustakas' 3-run HR in the bottom of the inning gave the Reds a 6-4 lead they would not relinquish on the way to a 9-4 win... In the 7-1 win vs WSox on 9/18, threw a perfect ninth inning... Was not on the Reds' 40-player Postseason pool roster.

2019

Spent most of the season at Louisville, where he tied for third on the staff in apps (43)... Made 12 apps during 3 stints with the Reds... made 1 appearance while on the roster from 7/22-7/27 and 2 apps from 8/9-8/14...on 8/31 rejoined the team for the rest of the season and finished the season with 9 more apps.... 4 times for the Reds threw more than 1.0 inning, once threw 2.0 innings (9/25 vs Mil) and twice threw a season-high 3.0 innings (7/23 at Mil, 8/10 vs Cubs)... In each of his first 2 apps of the season recorded a 3-inning save (14-6 win on 7/23 at Mil, 10-1 win on 8/10 vs Cubs)...are the first saves of his Major League career... Became the first Reds pitcher with more than 1 save of at least 3.0 innings in the same season since 1999, when Rookie of the Year Scott Williamson (3 times) and Stan Belinda (twice) each did it... On 8/31 was promoted from Louisville as the 26th player for the day/night doubleheader at StL...did not pitch in either game...immediately following that day/night doubleheader was optioned back to Louisville, but then the next day was promoted again as 1 of 5 September callups... For Louisville on 7/18 at Pawtucket, tied his professional career high with 10 strikeouts... Was designated for assignment on 2/5/20, when the Reds signed free agent RHP Pedro Strop...the rest of Romano's transaction was not complete at press time.

2018

Went 7-10, 5.48 in 25 starts (131.1ip) and 1-1, 3.77 in 14 relief apps (14.1ip)...made his first 19 apps of the season as a starter (5-8, 5.28) and 14 of his last 20 apps out of the bullpen...following a stretch of 4 consecutive starts from 8/1-8/21 (1-2, 8.00), made a career-high 12 straight relief apps from 8/25-9/26 (1-1, 4.50) before he returned to the rotation to start the final game of the season after the Reds shut down Luis Castillo...in the fourth inning of the 6-4 loss on 7/15 at StL, the final game prior to the All-Star break, pitched out of the bullpen for the first time after 35 career starts...entered the game with 1 out in the bottom of the fourth inning in relief of starter Anthony DeSclafani...while in the bullpen twice pitched on consecutive days (8/29-8/30 vs Mil, 9/22-9/23 at Mia), the only 2-day streaks of his career...over 3 starts from 6/12-6/24 produced a career-high 14.2-inning scoreless streak...in the 10-inning, 5-1 win on 6/12 at KC threw 8.0 innings, tying his career high...was 1 of 3 Reds pitchers to throw at least 8.0 innings (Homer Bailey 8.0, Luis Castillo 8.1)...the Reds went 12-2 in his 14 relief apps, the bullpen's best winning percentage (.833).

2017

In his Major League debut made 16 starts during 3 stints with the Reds...made spot starts in April and in early July before joining the rotation for good after the All-Star break...during the second half led Reds pitchers in innings (79.0) while tying Homer Bailey for the staff lead in starts (14)...in his last 8 starts of the season for the Reds went 3-3, 3.17 with 4 quality starts...overall after the All-Star break went 4-7, 4.44 in his 14 starts...the Reds went 7-9 in his 16 starts...began the season at Louisville and went 0-0, 1.38 in 2 starts before he was recalled on 4/16...in his Major League debut that Sun afternoon at Mil suffered the 4-2 loss...started in place of RHP Rookie Davis, who was disabled 4 days earlier...following that start was optioned back to Louisville...made 8 more starts there around a stint on the Bats' disabled list before he was promoted for his second career start on 7/6, when at Ari he earned his first career victory (6-3 win)...returned to Louisville the next day...on 7/13 threw 2.1 innings vs Indianapolis in a tuneup start in preparation for his 7/18 promotion...on 9/3 at Pit doubled off Trevor Williams to snap an 0-for-17 skid to begin his career...while at Louisville, from 4/27-6/2 was disabled with a strained right shoulder...as one of the final cuts of spring training was optioned to Louisville on 3/28, the day before Cin left Goodyear...entered the season rated by Baseball America the eighth-best prospect in the organization.

2016

In his first full season at Class AA Pensacola led the Blue Wahoos' staff in starts, innings pitched and strikeouts...led the Southern League in innings pitched, tied for the lead in starts and ranked second in the SL in strikeouts...averaged 1.90 walks per 9 innings, second-best ratio in the Southern League...averaged 8.31 strikeouts per 9 innings, third-best in the SL...averaged 11.31 baserunners per 9 innings, fifth-best ratio...among all Reds farmhands ranked fifth in ERA and second in strikeouts...was Southern League Pitcher of the Week for 7/25-7/31...was a non-roster invitee to Major League spring training camp and made 2 exhibition apps in relief (2ip, 2h, 3er, 2bb, 0k, 1hr) before he was optioned to Pensacola on 3/14...entered the season rated the ninth-best prospect in the organization and pitcher with the best fastball...following the season was rated by MLB.com the organization's eighth-best prospect.

2015

In 25 starts and 1 relief appearance at Class A Daytona and Class AA Pensacola combined to finish 6-9, 4.82...while at Daytona was Florida State League Pitcher of the Week for 7/20-7/26 after allowing just 1 hit in 7.0 shutout innings of a 7-1 win at Dunedin on 7/21 (0bb, 6k)...following the season, his fastball was rated by Baseball America the best in the organization...on 11/19 was added to the 40-man roster.